Lodis keller



UNITE STATES PATENT rerun.

LOUIS KELLER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

DECOY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 274,124, dated March 20, 1883.

Application filed January 22, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I,LoUIs KELLER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of .the city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have inventedcertain new andusef'ul Improvements in Decoys, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is aside view of the decoy, the piece 12 toward the viewer being removed. Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line as a: of Fig. 1, showing the side pieces extended. Fig. 3 is a sectional view, showing the pieces hinged at the top of the central piece.

Heretot'ore decoys have been carved out of blocks of wood of substantially the size of the game sought to be enticed by them 5 and they have also been constructed in a number of separate pieces, which were, when desired for use, put together by the sportsman. Those carved out of a block of wood are very bulky and heavy, and consequently inconvenientfor transportation, and the others, being made-of separate pieces, are inconvenient, beca use of the liabilityof losing or injuring some of the parts, which destroys the entire decoy, and also be cause it requires time and some skill to put them together. M a

- My decoys are so made that all the parts are fastened togethcrand cannot become lost, and they can also be folded together and packed in a small compass (being placed in a suitable frame, or confined by a strap, if desired) for transportation.

1n the drawings, like, letters indicate like parts, and in them I show a decoy simulating a duck; but I do not limit myself to duck-decoys, since the invention is applicable to decoys for all such game.

dis a piece of board cut out to simulate the profile of a duck. At one end the head a is formed. b b are two side pieces, also-of board, straight on one edge and curved on the other to simulate, when opened, the outline of the body of the duck on about the water-line. The side pieces, b b, are hinged to the lower edge of the center piece, a, on their straightedges, one on each side, by the hingesff. They can, being thus hinged, fold up against the sides of the center piece, and when folded the three pieces a b b will occupy substantially no more space than their combined thickness.

cut in the piece a. It is pivoted on a pin, 0,

which is driven through the center piece, a, and through the button cl.

0 c are holes in the side pieces, I), for the insertion of the finger and thumb to turn the button. i

g is a piece of any suitable cloth, which is so printed upon or painted as to simulate the back of the duck. ltis tacked along the outer edges of the pieces I) b, and also to the upper edge of the piece a. r

The operation is readily understood. When wanted for use the side pieces,b b,are opened out and the button turned until its endspress against the inside surfacesof the side pieces, which. retain them in an extended position. The cloth is cut of such size as not to allow the side pieces to swing outwardly too far. To fold them for transportation the button is turned so as to rest lengthwise in the slot (1. The sides b b then fold in upon the center piece, the cloth g folding either in or out, as the case may be, preferablyout.

The sides of the head a may be filled out to a thickness greater than the thickness of the center piece, a, if desired,by attaching thereto on each side additional pieces of board,or any other suitable substance occupying the space between the lines h h; or the cloth may be made to envelop the head, the sides being stuffed with any suitable material. By this means the cloth being'printed all at once, no hand-painting about the head is necessary; or a metallic head may be struck up and attached to thecenter piece. 7

Instead of hinging the side pieces to the bottom of the center piece, the decoy maybe made as showp in Fig.3, the side pieces being hinged at the upper edge of the center piece. In this construction the cloth need not be used, nor any holes through the side pieces, the button being easily operated from beneath the side pieces when extended, and they will be held firmly extended by the button, andthe shoul-.

ders formed by the edge of the side pieces impinging against the sides of the center piece.

The upper face of the side pieces and upper edge of center piece should be painted to simulate the feathers of the duck. I however pre-. fer the first method of construction,because it .is more buoyant in the water and the shape a button 01, and the cloth g, substantially as and v for the purposes set forth.

little better.

' Signed at New York c1ty,1n the county of I claim-- i: 1. The'combination, in a decoy, of the center New York and State of New York,- this 20th 5 piece, a, the side pieces, I), hinged to the cenday of January, A. D. 1883.

ter piece, and the button d, substantially as LOUIS KELLER and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination, in a decoy, of the center Witnesses: piece, a, the side pieces, b, hinged to the cen- PHILLIPS ABBOTT, 1o ter piece and provided with the holes 0, the 1 JOHN J. GAULDWELL. 

